Professor says social justice culture harms

Montrealer Gad Saad invites controversial guests on show

MONTREAL— Gad Saad, better known as “The Gadfather” to his fans, regularly appears on highly popular U.S. talk shows and his YouTube channel has millions of views, yet the Montreal professor is largely unknown in Canada outside academic circles.

He is credited with founding the field of evolutionary consumption, which teaches that men and women are influenced by biology and Darwinian principles when they shop.

But the Concordia University marketing professor is perhaps just as well known for his public battles against what he considers to be a social justice culture that harms society by rejecting intellectual diversity.

He argues political correctness is limiting the free exchange of ideas on university campuses across the continent — and he holds special disdain for professors who do not fight back.

“The seven deadly sins should be updated,” Saad, 52, said over coffee. “We should add an eighth sin: Cowardice.

“Most (teachers) put their heads down. They want to do their research, not ruffle feathers, and cowardice seeps in.”

When University of Toronto Prof. Jordan Peterson was criticized for refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns for transgender people, Saad invited him on his YouTube show, The Saad Truth, instead of joining the students, academics and others who denounced him.

That episode garnered more than 100,000 views.

Saad is among a small group of Canadian professors who are pioneers in using social media to reach millions of people outside the classroom by popularizing complex scientific concepts.

He laments that there are few formal structures in universities to promote and encourage professors using social media tools to spread knowledge.

Saad says that’s changing, however, albeit slowly.